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NOTES Olympic Push Tiger Trends Whos No 3

DUBLIN, Ohio -- PGA TOUR commissioner Tim Finchem cant think of a better scenario when the International Olympic Committee meets a year from October. Golf is added to the summer program. Chicago is announced as host city for 2016. And Tiger Woods is going strong and eager to add a gold medal to his trophy collection.

Thats still a long way off, but Finchem said Tuesday that golf made a strong first impression in an informal meeting last week with IOC president Jacques Rogge.

Finchem was joined by European Tour chief George OGrady, LPGA Tour commissioner Carolyn Bivens, USGA executive director David Fay and Royal & Ancient chief executive Peter Dawson. They were told the steps leading to the IOC decision next October and what golf executives have to do to make their case.

It was important that the IOC saw the game was united, which I think they were impressed with, Finchem said. That got accomplished. Its a long way, and we have other sports competing for the same spots. We like to think were what they want because were a sport thats universal.

Woods gives a boost to any tournament, although any involvement in the Olympics would be short-lived. Woods will be 40 in 2016, the earliest golf could be part of the Olympics.

Chicago is the U.S. city under consideration for 2016, and Finchem was quick to note that Woods has a strong history in Chicago, where he has won two PGA Championships and four PGA TOUR events.

His knee aside, hes such a good athlete, youve got to believe hes going to be competitive, Finchem said. And theres a lot of interest in whether he plays. But the bigger question is the long-term role of golf in the Olympics.

He also mentioned a long list of courses Chicago can offer.

The biggest obstacle will be scheduling Olympic golf among the last two majors and the tours FedExCup finale. Finchem suggested one possibility of the men and women competing over separate weeks. The four playoff events for the FedExCup already are being rearranged this year for the Ryder Cup, and Finchem says they will work even into the early part of football season.

Were not really doing it for golf in the U.S. anyway, he said. Its for growing the game around the world and something we can all do together. The value for the players is that the more people that play around the world, the more people will be watching. Theyll be paid back eventually.

TIGER TRENDSGolf research guru Tom Ierubino, former managing editor at Golf Magazine, came up with some historical nuggets that dont bode well for Tiger Woods at the U.S. Open.

The previous nine U.S. Opens in California (Riviera, Olympic Club, Pebble Beach) were won by nine players.

And while no one has won multiple majors in the Golden State, some of the games greatest players have come hauntingly close upon their return.

Ben Hogan won in 1948 at Riviera, and the next U.S. Open in California was at The Olympic Club in 1955, where Hogan famously lost a playoff to Jack Fleck.

Jack Nicklaus won at Pebble Beach in 1972. The next time a U.S. Open was held in California, he finished second to Tom Watson at Pebble a decade later. After that two-shot victory in 1982, Watson next played a U.S. Open in California at Olympic Club, where he finished second to Scott Simpson.

Woods won the most recent U.S. Open in California at Pebble Beach in 2000. Next up is Torrey Pines.

For those curious about those other U.S. Open winners'Fleck, Billy Casper, Simpson, Tom Kite and Lee Janzen'none finished in the top 10 upon their Open return to California.

MIXED SIGNALSJack Nicklaus has been barking about technology for at least a decade, with seemingly no help from the USGA. But he took part in an announcement earlier this month when golfs governing body in the United States and Mexico announced it had signed its fourth corporate partner in the last 18 months.

He was asked about any perception that the USGA is more interested in getting corporate support than governing the game.

I wish I had a good answer to that, Nicklaus replied. I havent had a good answer from the USGA on it. I think their heart is in the right place. I dont think theyre trying to avoid being a good steward to the game. Theyre probably between a rock and a hard place.

Their efforts in the grassroots of the game, being involved in youth, certainly has been good, he said. They do so many good things. Its just the one thing they arent having success at is controlling the length of the golf ball.

WHOS NO. 3?Tiger Woods has rendered moot the argument over whos No. 1, building a lead that is nearly double the points of Phil Mickelson at No. 2. But Mickelson is carving out a pretty strong niche at No. 2.

With his victory at Colonial, the points gap between Mickelson and Ernie Els at No. 3 is roughly equal to the gap between Els and Ben Curtis at No. 80.

DIVOTSSteve Stricker has missed the cut six times this year, after missing the cut only six times the last two years combined. Stricker withdrew from the Memorial on Tuesday. Amanda Blumenherst of Duke was won the Dinah Shore Trophy as the female college golfer who has excelled on the course and the classroom. Blumenherst has won 11 times and maintained a 3.8 grade point average while majoring in history. Phil Mickelson joined Ben Hogan (1947) and Sam Snead (1950) as the only players to win at Colonial and Riviera in the same season. The AT&T Classic outside Atlanta, and opposite-field events in Mexico and Puerto Rico, are only PGA Tour events this year where the winner did not automatically qualify for the Bridgestone Invitational at Firestone because of field-of-strength requirements.

STAT OF THE WEEKIn the seven times that a stroke-play major was held on the same course of an official PGA TOUR event, only once was the lower score posted in a major'Steve Elkington (267) at Riviera in the 1995 PGA Championship. Corey Pavin won the Los Angeles Open earlier that year at 268.

FINAL WORDMissing the cut on your home course has to be about as bad as it gets.'Ernie Els, who missed the cut at the BMW Championship for the first time since 1992. Els has a home at Wentworth and redesigned the West course.

Tiger's checklist: How he can contend at Augusta

PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. – Augusta is already on the minds of most players here at the Honda Classic, and that includes the only one in the field with four green jackets.

Yes, Tiger Woods has been talking about the Masters ever since he started this latest comeback at Torrey Pines. These three months are all about trying to build momentum for the year’s first major.

Woods hasn’t revealed his schedule past this week, but his options are limited. He’s a good bet to play at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, where he has won eight times, but adding another start would be a departure from the norm. He’s not eligible for the two World Golf Championship events, in Mexico and Austin, and he has never played the Valspar Championship or the Houston Open.

So there’s a greater sense of urgency this week at PGA National, which is realistically one of his final tune-ups.

How will Woods know if he’s ready to contend at Augusta? Here’s his pre-Masters checklist:

1. Stay healthy

So far, so good, as Woods tries to resume a normal playing schedule following four back surgeries since 2014. Though he vowed to learn from his past mistakes and not push himself, it was a promising sign that Woods felt strong enough to sign up for the Honda, the second of back-to-back starts on separate coasts.

Another reason for optimism on the health front: The soreness that Woods felt after his season opener at Torrey Pines wasn’t related to his surgically repaired back. No, what ached most were his feet – he wasn’t used to walking 72 holes on hilly terrain.

Woods is stiffer than normal, but that’s to be expected. His back is fused.

2. Figure out his driver

Augusta National is more forgiving off the tee than most major courses, putting more of a premium on approach shots and recoveries.

That’s good news for Woods, who has yet to find a reliable tee shot. Clearly, he is most comfortable playing a fade and wants to take the left side of the course out of play, but in competition he’s been plagued by a two-way miss.

In two starts this year, Woods has hit only 36 percent of the fairways, no matter if he was using driver, fairway wood or long iron.

Unfortunately, Woods is unlikely to gain any significant insight into his driver play this week. PGA National’s Champion Course isn’t overly long, but there is water on 15 of the 18 holes. As a result, he said he likely will hit driver only four times a round, maybe five, and otherwise rely on his 3-wood and 2-iron.

Said Rory McIlroy: “Being conservative off the tee is something that you have to do here to play well.”

That won’t be the case at Augusta.

3. Clean up his iron play

As wayward as Woods has been off the tee, his iron play hasn’t impressed, either.

At Riviera, he hit only 16 greens in regulation – his fewest in a Tour event as a professional. Of course, Woods’ chances of hitting the green are reduced when he’s playing from the thick rough, sand and trees, but he also misfired on six of the eight par 3s.

Even when Woods does find the green, he’s not close enough to the hole. Had he played enough rounds to qualify, his proximity to the hole (39 feet, 7 inches) would rank 161st on Tour.

That won’t be good enough at Augusta, where distance control and precision are paramount.

Perhaps that’s why Justin Thomas said last week what many of us were thinking: “I would say he’s a pretty good ways away.”

4. Get into contention somewhere

As much as he would have liked to pick off a win on the West Coast, Woods said that it’s not a prerequisite to have a chance at the Masters. He cited 2010, when he tied for fourth despite taking four months off after the fallout from his scandal.

In reality, though, there hasn’t been an out-of-nowhere Masters champion since Charl Schwartzel in 2011. Since then, every player who eventually donned the green jacket either already had a win that year or at least a top-3 finish worldwide.

“I would like to play well,” Woods said. “I would like to win golf tournaments leading into it. The years I’ve won there, I’ve played really well early.”

Indeed, he had at least one win in all of the years he went on to win the Masters (1997, 2000, ’01, ’05). Throw in the fact that Woods is nearly five years removed from his last Tour title, and it’s reasonable to believe that he at least needs to get himself into contention before he can seriously entertain winning another major.

And so that’s why he’s here at the Honda, trying to find his game with seven weeks to go.

Players winner to get 3-year exemption into PGA

Although The Players isn’t golf’s fifth major, it received a boost in that direction this week.

The PGA of America has adjusted its criteria for eligibility into the PGA Championship, extending an exemption for the winner of The Players to three years.

According to an official with the PGA of America, the association felt the winner of The Players deserved more than a single-year exemption, which had been the case, and the move is consistent with how the PGA Tour’s annual flagship event is treated by the other majors.

Winners of The Players were already exempt for three years into the Masters, U.S. Open and The Open Championship.

Thomas: Playing in front of Tiger even more chaotic

PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. – Justin Thomas may be going from the frying pan to the fire of Tiger Woods’ pairings.

Translation: He’s going from being grouped with Woods last week in the first two rounds at the Genesis Open to being grouped directly in front of Woods this week at the Honda Classic.

“Which might be even worse than playing with him,” Thomas said Wednesday.

Typically, the pairing in front of Woods deals with a lot of gallery movement, with fans racing ahead to get in position to see Woods’ next shot.

Thomas was quoted after two rounds with Tiger at Riviera saying fans “got a little out of hand,” and saying it’s disappointing some golf fans today think it’s “so amusing to yell and all that stuff while we’re trying to hit shots.”

With 200,000 fans expected this week at the Honda Classic, and with the Goslings Bear Trap pavilion setting a party mood at the 16th green and 17th tee, that portion of the course figures to be quite lively at PGA National.

“I touched on this a little bit last week,” Thomas said. “I think it got blown out of proportion, was just taken out of context, and worded differently than how I said it or meant it.

“I love the fans. The fans are what I hope to have a lot of, what all of us hope to have a lot of. We want them cheering us on. But it's those certain fans that are choosing to yell at the wrong times, or just saying stuff that's completely inappropriate.”

Thomas said it’s more than ill-timed shouts. It’s the nature of some things being said.

“It's one thing if it's just you and I talking, but when you're around kids, when you're around women, when you're around families, or just around people in general, some of the stuff they are saying to us is just extremely inappropriate,” he said. “There’s really no place for it anywhere, especially on a golf course.

“I feel like golf is pretty well known as a classy sport, not that other sports aren't, but it has that reputation.”

Thomas said the nature of the 17th hole at PGA National’s Champion Course makes it a more difficult tee shot than the raucous 16th at the Waste Management Phoenix Open. Typically, players like to hear fans get into the action before or after they hit shots. Ill-timed bluster, however, makes a shot like the one at Honda’s 17th even tougher.

“That hole is hard enough,” Thomas said. “I don't need someone yelling in my ear on my backswing that I'm going to hit it in the water, to make it any harder. I hope it gets better, just for the sake of the game. That's not helping anything. That's not helping grow the game.”

Those who follow golf know an ill-timed shout in a player’s backswing is different than anything a fan says at a football, basketball or baseball game. An ill-timed comment in a backswing has a greater effect on the outcome of a competition.

“Just in terms of how much money we're playing for, how many points we're playing for ... this is our jobs out here, and you hate to somehow see something that a fan does, or something that they yell, influence something that affects [a player’s] job,” Thomas said.

Rory: Phil said RC task force just copied Europe

PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. – Playing the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am two weeks ago, Rory McIlroy quizzed Phil Mickelson about what the Americans got out of the U.S. Ryder Cup task force’s overhaul.

McIlroy and Mickelson were paired together at Pebble Beach.

“Basically, all they are doing is copying what the Europeans have done,” McIlroy said. “That's what he said.”

The Europeans claimed their sixth of seven Ryder Cups with their victory at Gleneagles in 2014. That brought about a sea change in the way the United States approached the Ryder Cup. Mickelson called out the tactics in Gleneagles of captain Tom Watson, who was outmaneuvered by European captain Paul McGinley.

The Americans defeated Europe at Hazeltine two years ago with that new European model.

“He said the first thing they did in that task force was Phil played a video, a 12-minute video of Paul McGinley to all of them,” McIlroy said. “So, they are copying what we do, and it's working for them. It's more cohesive, and the team and the core of that team are more in control of what they are doing, instead of the PGA of America recruiting and someone telling them what to do.”